Hindi
Grand Masti gets a whooping Rs 39.8 crore opening
MUMBAI: Grand Masti has a terrific weekend raking in a big moolah at the box office. The film, with huge support from single screens, has collected Rs 39.8 crore for its opening weekend. This is a sequel to the previous adult comedy Masti and the three friends are back together and this time they are coming together at their college reunion. The film stars Ritesh Deshmukh, Aftab Shivdasani and Vivek Oberoi.
John Day has not been able to make a mark despite Naseeruddin Shah leading the cast. The film has managed to collect just about Rs 1.7crore for the first weekend.
Horror Story, a grossly under publicised film, has managed to cross the Rs two crore mark in its first three days.
Shuddh Desi Romance has had a good first week. A pleasant love story with a contemporary theme of live-in couple scared to commit through the institution of marriage, the film has collected Rs 35.7 crore for its first week.
Zanjeer, much in news because of its copyrights controversy involving the writers of the original version and the production house, Prakash Mehra Productions, has turned out to be a damp squib, having collected just Rs 13.75 crore.
Satyagraha, which failed to stir up the box office and collected Rs 51.7 crore in its first week, has added Rs 6.9 crore in its second week to take its two week total to Rs 58.6 crore.
Madras Café has collected Rs 1.1 crore in its third week to take its three week tally to Rs 40.65 crore.
Channai Express has added Rs 1.1 crore in its fifth week thus taking its six week total to Rs 200.5 crore.
Hindi
Government backs film production through DCDFC, co-production push
Scheme funds cinema, WAVES 2025 boosts global ties and industry growth.
MUMBAI: Lights, camera… policy action. As India’s screens glow brighter at home and abroad, the government is quietly scripting a bigger role behind the scenes funding films, fuelling collaborations and nudging the country closer to its “create for the world” ambition. At the centre of this effort is the Development, Communication & Dissemination of Filmic Content (DCDFC) scheme, a 100 per cent centrally funded initiative designed to support film production across the country. Through this scheme, the government provides direct financial backing to projects, aiming to strengthen both mainstream and alternative storytelling ecosystems while encouraging cinematic excellence.
The implementation runs through the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC), which plays a key role in facilitating film production, including regional cinema and documentaries. Beyond the screen, the scheme also feeds into the broader economy creating jobs for local technicians, artists and service providers, and strengthening grassroots production networks across states.
The push, however, is not limited to funding alone. India’s ambition to position itself as a global content powerhouse was on display at the World Audio Visual & Entertainment Summit 2025 held in Mumbai, which brought together creators, producers, startups and global stakeholders from over 100 countries. The summit acted as a convergence point for Indian storytelling and international capital, with OTT platforms, investors and technology leaders exploring partnerships in a rapidly evolving content economy.
Complementing this is the government’s focus on audio-visual co-production agreements, which effectively operate on a public-private partnership model. By enabling Indian and international producers to collaborate, these agreements are designed to bring in investment, global expertise and advanced filmmaking practices while also giving Indian stories a wider global footprint.
Support also extends to film culture and preservation. Grants are provided for domestic film festivals recommended by state governments, alongside curated film packages, masterclasses and workshops to nurture talent and audience engagement. The NFDC further collaborates with State Film Development Corporations, offering technical expertise across the filmmaking value chain and supporting the preservation of local film heritage.
Many states, in parallel, are encouraging the development of film infrastructure including production studios often through public-private partnership models, signalling a coordinated push to build a more robust audiovisual ecosystem.
The update was shared in Parliament by Ashwini Vaishnaw in response to a query from Thirumaavalavan Tholkappiyan, outlining a multi-layered approach that blends funding, infrastructure, policy and global outreach.
Taken together, the message is clear: India is not just telling more stories, it is building the machinery to tell them bigger, better and to the world.
